The invention relates to an apparatus for grouping of block-shaped packages, in particular apparatus having horizontal transfer belts followed by a vertical conveyor device from which the groups of packages are transferred to a horizontal output belt.
Packages intended for sale, such as blockshaped cardboard packages filled with a product, must often be combined into groups by the product manufacturer, so that they can be shipped and later stored; the packages in each group are then held together by suitable additional packaging means, for instance by sleeve-like cardboard bands or coverings of shrink-wrap film. The problem, in terms of the packaging technology, is accordingly to combine the packages, which as a rule arrive singly, into groups of packages; that is, a given number of packages must be stacked on or adjacent one another.
In known apparatuses, this is accomplished by delivering the individual packages successively to a vertical conveyor apparatus, which stacks the individual packages on one another. When the desired number of packages in a package group is attained, the group of packages is then taken by this vertical conveyor apparatus to output belts or similar devices for further processing, for instance for being banded together.
Vertical conveyor apparatuses of this type comprise a drum, for example, with receiving devices on its circumference, which receive the packages at the top of the drum and group them at a lower level. These conveyor apparatuses are structurally complicated, and the number of packages that can be grouped together per unit of time is limited.